Interchangeable electric sign



June-13, 1933. v. L. PISTOCCO INTERCHANGEABLE ELECTRIC SIGN Filed Dec. 17, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 x3 Vendope A. flxffacqp V. L. PISTOCCO INTERCHANGEABLE ELECTRIC SIGN June 13, 1933.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 17, 19 3l June 13, 1933.' v. L. PISTOCCO INTERCHANGEABLE ELECTRIC SIGN Filed Dec. 17, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 attmq Patented June 13, 1933 TUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' .VENDOPE L. P ISTOCCO, OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR TO ECONOMY ELECTRIC ADOORZPORATION, OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS, A CORPORATION OF TEXAS INTERCHANGEABLE ELECTRIC SIGN Application filed December 17, 1931. Serial No. 581,642.

' This invention relates to new and useful improvements in interchangeable electric signs. One object of the invention is to provide an improved sign wherein individual illuminated panels may becquickly assembled and interchanged. without the necessity of making complicated electrical connections.

A further object of the invention is to provide individual panels which may be properly wired and equipped so as to be delivered to the user ready to insert in a rack having electrical contacts for engaging the panels and thereby eliminating the making of electrical contacts or doing other electrical connecting work. I

- Another object of the invention is to provide. a sign panel arranged to receive electric lamps so that their terminals are exposed on one 'side' of the panel, whereby slip sockets may be quickly and easily engaged with the exposed terminals of such sockets suitably connected with a source for supplying an electric current.

'Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved display panel for receiving electric lamps and disposing them to illuminate a letter or symbol displayed on the panel.

A construction designed to carry out the invention will be hereinafter describedtogether with otherfeatures of the invention.

The invention will be more readily understood from a reading of the following specification and by reference to the accompany- :ing drawings in which an example of the invention is shown, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section showing a rack and sign .panels constructed in accordance with the invention, r

; Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1,

Figure3 is a rear elevation of a portion of one of the panels, V

'Figure 4 is a rear elevation of a panel Pequipped with slip sockets,

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a portion of said panel, a

Figure 6 is a front view partly in elevation and partly in section showing a pair of panels mounted in a supporting base and con structed in accordance With the invention,

Figure 7 is a transverse vertical sectional View taken on the line 77 of Figure 6,

Figure 8 is a perspective View showing the rear side of the same,

Figure 9 is a front View partly in elevation and partly in section illustrating another modification of base support and panels, and Figure 10 is a transverse vertical sectional View of the same. v y

In the drawings the numeral 10 designates a display panel which is preferably rectangular in shape, but may be made in any shape suit-able to the invention. The panel may be made of various materials and the in vention is not to be limited to such material. In Figuresl to 5 inclusive, the panel illustrated is constructed of some material which is a non-conductor of electricity, but even this is subject to variation. It is common to use composition boards which-are usually made of layers or plies of cardboard, wood, plastic material and the like, properly secured together.

In Figures 1, 2 and 3 the panel 10 is composed of a sheet or plate of material sufficiently thick to be self-supporting and to hold electric light sockets 11 suitably fastened therein and exposed on each side thereof. Electric lamps A are screwed into the sockets and the sockets may be of any suitable construction, as such construction forms no part of the invention. As is customary, each socket has a terminal B and a terminal C. Contact shoes 12 are suitably secured at the top and bottom edge portions of the panel. These shoes have been illustrated as U-shaped in cross-section and extending the Width of the panel, but this shape is merely for the purpose of illustration, although it provides a very efficient way of" clamping a metal contact to each end of the panel.

A circuit wire 13 is secured to one shoe and a second circuit wire 14 is secured to the other shoe. The wire 13 includes numerous branches connected with the contacts B, a

while the wire 14 includes numerous branches connected with the contacts C. It will be seen that any letter or design formed on the face of the panel may be studded with the lamps A. For instance, in Figure 1 two panels are shown, one displaying the letter T and the other displaying the letter E. Each panel is made up separately and its sockets 11 properly connected with the wires 13 and 14, which in turn are soldered or otherwise secured to the shoes 12. Each panel is separate and distinct and constitutes an individual unit.

To display the panels, I provide a rack including a top rail 15 and a bottom rail 16. Each of these rails includes a trough or channel and I have shown the top channel as formed by spaced strips 17 secured on each side of a longitudinal space bar 18 fastened to the back of a channel bar 19 by a bolt 20. The lower channel is formed by duplicate parts except that the rear strip 17 is reduced in width to facilitate the insertion of the panel. It is to be understood that the channel bars 19 may be suitably ornamented, or other types of supports may be substituted.

On top of the bottom bar 18 I secure a longitudinal metal bus bar 21, while on the underside of the top bar 18 I secure a similar bus bar 22. To the underside of the bar 22 I fasten a plurality of bowed springcontacts 23. By this arrangement the panels are firmly held in place and may be easily 1nserted and removed and a positive contact is assured.

In inserting a panel its upper end is first slipped into the upper channel between the plate 17 and the contacts 23 sufficlently depressed to all-ow the lower shoe 12 to be swung over the strip 17 When this 1s done, the panel is lowered so that its bottom shoe 12 rests upon the bar 21 and this permits the contacts 23 to expand and maintain the r engagement with the upper shoe 12. It is obvious that after the panels are once wlred, it is merely necessary to slip them into the rack as desired. Any particular panel may be removed and the panels are interchangeable.

In Figures 4 and 5 the panel 10 is made of a suitable material which is a non-conductor of electricity and which is capable of having holes 24 bored therethrough. These holes are of such size that the threaded terminals A ofthe lamps A may be screwed through sald holes, whereby the lamps will be held in place. With some materials it might be necessary to thread the holes, while other materials would be sufficiently soft to permit the terminals to form their own threads. The panel is formed with the shoes 12 and the sockets 11 are entirely omitted.

For connecting up the lamps a plurality of slip sockets 25 are provided. These sockets are formed of rubber composition or other flexible material so that they can be pushed or telescoped onto the projecting terminals of the lamps. Each socket is provided with contacts 26 and 27 to engage the terminal of the lamp and these contacts are connected to separate wires 28 and 29, as is customary in forming electric circuits. The Wires 28 and 29 have fiat tips 30 on their ends which may be wedged between the shoes 12 and the back of the panel, thus providing contacts. It will be noticed that the wires 28and 29 provide sulficient slack so that the sockets 25 may be attached to lamps spaced apart at dif ferent distances and thereby provided for adjustments. I/Vhile all of the sockets are shown in use, it is obvious that if there were more sockets than lamps, only those needed could be used and the others would remain idle. By this arrangement anyone can connect up the panel and install itin the rack without the aid of an electrician. A panel. of

this type could be shipped or transported and when it arrived at its destination the lamps and sockets could be applied. The structure is inexpensive and is very flexible. v

In Figures 6 to 8 I have shown another form of the invention. An elongated base member 40 is provided with an underfacing 41 of felt or other material so that the base may be placed on polished surfaces without marring the same and the device used as a stand. In this form the panel 42 is formed of metal and is snugly fitted in a channel 43 formed in the base 40 so as to rest upon a bus bar 44. This bar is connected with a circuit wire 45 so that the side of the circuit.

The electric lamps A are screwed into openings 24 similar to the openings 24. The slip sockets 25 are attached to the terminals A,

the same as in Figure 5, but in this form only the circuit wire 28 is used and the circuit wire 29 is omitted. The wire 28 is provided with a plug 45 engaging a socket 46 mounted in the rear of the base and connected with a circuit wire 47 As shown in Figure 8, the wire 28 may have a branch 28 and any number of sockets 25 may be secured thereto, thus making it possible to set up a number of panels with different displays thereon.

Many variations or forms of the invention may be worked out, and in Figures 9 and 10 I have shown a panel 50 which is formed by enclosing a foraminous sheet 51, such as fine wire mesh, between two sheets or layers 52 of cardboard or other non-conducting material. The sheets are suitably fastened together and the foraminous material is bent upon itself so as to overlap the front sheet 52 to form a contact shoe 12. The base 40 has a channel 53 in which is mounted a longi-" panel provides one The panel is provided with screw-threaded openings 55, similar to the openings 24, and when the terminals A of the lamps A are screwed into said openings contacts will be made with the screen 51. The caps 25 and circuit wire 28 are used the same as in the other figures. It is, of course, to be understood that the exact. electrical connections are subject to variation.

Various changes in the size and shape of the different parts, as well as modifications and alterations, may be made within the scope of the appended claims.

Having illustrated and described preferred forms of the invention, what I claim,

1. In an interchangeable electric sign, upper and lower horizontal channels, an electrical contact strip in the bottom of the lower channel, bowed spring electrical contacts in the top of the upper channel, a plurality of non-conducting panels, each panel having electrical contact shoes secured around its top and bottom edges and extending therealong for engaging the contact strip and the spring contacts, and lamps mounted in the panel and electrically connected with the shoes, the lower channel member having one of its sides shortened, whereby each panel may be inserted in the rack without sliding it therealong and by compressing the spring contact in the upper channel member.

2. In an interchangeable electric sign, a non-conducting panel having holes therein, electrical lamps having their screw-threaded terminals screwed directly into the holes of said panels, slip sockets having contacts therein slipped onto the ends of said terminals on the rear side of the panel, and circuit wires connected with said socket terminals for forming a complete circuit.

3. In an interchangeable electric sign, a non-conducting panel having holes therein, electrical lamps having their screw-threaded terminals screwed directly into the holes of said panels, slip sockets having contacts therein slipped onto the ends of said terminals on the rear side of the panel, circuit wires connected with said socket terminals for forming a complete circuit, and contact shoes secured to the upper and lower edges of said panel and connected with said wires.

4. In an interchangeable electric sign, a base having a contact strip therein, an electrical conductor in said base, a socket connected with said conductor, a plurality of metallic letter panels mounted in said base and engaging the contact thereof, electric lamps having their terminals screwed into said metallic panels, slip sockets engaging the terminals of said lamps, a circuit wire connected to said sockets, and a plug connected to said wire and engaged with the socket of the conductor in the base.

5. In an interchangeable electric sign, a

base having a contact strip therein, an electrical conductor in said base, a socket connected with said conductor, a plurality of letter panels having an electrical conducting sheet embedded therein and provided with holes in which said sheet is exposed, said conducting sheet being exposed at the bottom of the panel, electric lamps having their terminals screwed into said metallic panels, slip sockets engaging the terminals of said lamps, a circuit wire connected to said sockets, and a plug connected to said wire and engaged with the socket of the conductorin the base.

6. In an interchangeable electric sign, a rack including upper and lower channel members, the lower channel member having a longitudinal bus bar therein, spring contacts mounted in the upper channel member, and a plurality of panels having lamp sockets and contact shoes mounted on the upper and lower edges of the panels and electrically connected with the sockets, the panels being disposed with their lower shoes in contact with the bus bar and their upper shoes in engagement with the spring contacts, the lower channel member having one of its sides shortened, whereby the panels may be inserted in the rack without sliding them there- 'along and by compressing spring contacts in the upper channel member.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

VENDOPE L. PISTOCGO. 

